Friday, December 3, 2010

Twigg Officer's Fusil by John Bosh

This 12 gauge smoothbore is slender and light with 44" octagon-to-round armoury bright barrel. The black walnut stock is finished dark and trimmed in brightly polished engraved brass furniture. The barrel includes period proof marks by contemporary builder John Bosh.

The 12 gauge Colerain 44" octagon-to-round barrel has a tapered octagon breech with a single wedding band to round. The 12 gauge bore has a .730" diameter bore, ideal for our 12 gauge wads and cards.

The black walnut buttstock is stained dark to give it a ebony appearance. The walnut buttstock is fitted with a tall nearly flat buttplate to spread the recoil from the 12 gauge bore. The long ballister wrist flows into the lock panels. The forearm is slender with a graceful appearance. The muzzle end of the stock is cut back to allow the use of a socket bayonet. The end grain of the stock is protected with a brass band, similar to the later North West Trade Guns.

Trigger reach is 14" to fit todays average size shooter. Weight is 7.3 pounds including the socket bayonet.

The lock is cast from a antique Twigg fowler and was hand assembled by John Bosh. This flintlock does have a pan bridle, a advanced feature on early English locks.

The buttplate has a classic stepped English style comb. The buttplate is highly polished with cast-in military theme engraving as on the antique fusil. The buttplate has a button release near the heel for the trapdoor to hold the socket bayonet. The wrist is fitted with a large thumbpiece. The breech end of the Colerain barrel is stamped with a view, proof, and makers mark.

The stock has a swell just ahead of the buttplate and tapers down to a slender wrist. The stock is stamped with two inspection marks below the triggerguard. The stock has a very difficult to see repair that was likely part of the original construction. A section of walnut is fitted around the rear triggerguard pin.

The ramrod has a large flared end with a brass end piece, and tapers down to a slender profile as it enters the stock. In antique fashion the ramrod does not have a threaded end to accept accessories.

The sideplate is a classic English design with a ball end around the forward lock bolt. The rear lock bolt is surrounded by a cast-in engraved shell design found on the antique. The sideplate makes use of a third screw. This screw is a throw back to earlier locks that used three lock bolts, changed to a screw, and then slowly fades from popular use.

The trapdoor in the buttstock stores the socket bayonet when not mounted on the barrel.

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Introduction

When Robert Weil started collecting images for the Contemporary Makers book in 1973 the challenge to record contemporary gun work was daunting. Gathering material was difficult and time consuming. Few makers thought that there was any value in published documentation of their work. Electronic publishing has changed all that. Having a website or having one's work available to view on the internet is becoming a necessity. In spite of all the potential to finally have a true overview of what's being produced by the artists of today, a great deal of work still remains covered up and basically unknown. Our role is to make an effort to document some portion of what’s going on today. To comment on the established makers and to uncover the unknown. We welcome your comments and suggestions and look to you our readers to make us aware of the talented makers out there.Art and Jan RiserRobert Weiland The Makers